Bespoke Programme success story - Alan and Jackie Rankin

Alan and Jackie Rankin

Alan & Jackie started photography intending that Alan took the pictures and Jackie did the admin, but from day one Annabel Williams had very different ideas!

Before that day, Jackie who was a nurse for 17 years until she retrained in floristry had never picked up an SLR camera. "I'd never even considered taking a photograph, but Annabel made me! Within 20 minutes I was totally hooked. I had always been frightened of the technical side, but suddenly I was shown that there is another way!"

Alan, who had been taking photos full-time for about a year, was thrilled that Jackie was so keen, and together they have joined forces in running the business.

"It's the first time I've been on a course where I wasn't afraid to ask questions. Everyone is so approachable and enthusiastic." Says Jackie.

Alan had been in the computer industry for 15 years, and just before joining the course, he had worked for a year as a wedding photographer. "I was selling my weddings for around £300 each, but now people are booking at a much higher price, because we've refined what we do, and given them a much better product, which they can relate to. We feel we now have the chance to do something individual."

"A few years ago I wouldn't have dared walk into some of the top wedding venues in Edinburgh, but now they are ringing us!"

"At first we had a huge fear of failing, and we deliberated about doing so many things. Annabel and Catherine gave us the confidence and belief in ourselves, so we took the bull by the horns and did it."